How do baseball players respond to schedule strength?

[bulldogcountry1]

You can really see this in any team sport. Many teams tend to play up/down to the level of their opponents. It's definitely evident in baseball because pitching match-ups can really neutralize a large portion of the advantages of a good team and give a lot of confidence to the underdog. Since RPI has become so important, it's become common to expect to see these upset-minded sunbelt teams pitching their ace in a midweek game. We have fallen victim to this strategy numerous times over the last several years because we came out flat, expecting a cake walk. There's really no advantage at all to playing a weak non-conference schedule.

Cohen said that the players are excited about playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation. I'll will require a consistent high level of focus, and it's a great opportunity to make us more confident for a postseason run. Obviously, it will affect our winning percentage, but the RPI benefits will be significant. I'm hoping that both the staff and the team learned a lot from last year, and I'm interested in seeing how they respond after a couple tough losses. Championship teams overcome and just keep working towards improving.